Here Are 10 Gorgeous and Moving 'Into the Woods' Character Posters

For fans of musical theater, "Into the Woods" is something of a holy grail. The Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine production first premiered in 1986 and has been regularly staged ever since, most recently as part of the starry Shakespeare in the Park series in New York's Central Park. The play, which cleverly combines a handful of famous Brothers Grimm fairy tales into an enchanting concoction all its own, has, for all of its beloved followers and lavish productions, never been successfully adapted for the big screen... Until now. With Disney's big budget "Into the Woods" (their first-ever Broadway adaptation) hitting theaters on Christmas day, those singing storybook characters are about to become an even bigger sensation.

That's right, folks, there's more movie stars per square inch than at an opening of Planet Hollywood, circa 1992. And look closely -- these posters are actually moving.

What's so great about these posters (besides the excellent font choice for the characters) is that they are atmospheric and moody without ever actually giving anything away about the plot (or even betraying that the film is a big, bold musical from Rob Marshall, the Oscar-winning director of one of the best Broadway translations of all time, "Chicago"). For someone who doesn't think of "Into the Woods," the powers work devilishly well, since you know the characters (from the fairy tales), you know the actors, and you know that whatever "Into the Woods" is, you're in. For those who do obsess over every line of dialogue, well, you're probably on another plane of reality right now, one defined exclusively by joy.